Alexius Sparkman
Dr. Ernest Williamson III
English Composition II
1 February 2017
Letter from Birmingham Jail Analysis Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere: many minorities would feel this to be true. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned for being a participant in a nonviolent protest against segregation. In his letter, Dr. King defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to violence. In this rhetorical analysis the writer will analyze the rhetoric devices used by Dr. King. In his letter, Dr. King defines both “just” laws and “unjust” laws. According to Dr. King, a “just” law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An “unjust” law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. By …show more content…
King’s letter makes a seriously devastating logical argument. It deals with the realities of the circumstance in a way his critics neglect to do. One of Dr. King’s fundamental contentions in his letter is that just laws ought to be followed and unjust laws should be openly and purposely disobeyed. In any case, with a specific end goal to win individuals over to this simple idea, he needs to accomplish more than connect with his readers’ feelings. So he writes practically like an attorney for an extent, characterizing just and unjust laws from a couple diverse angles. For instance, utilizing just laws versus unjust laws. The major moments of pathos in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" come in the parts about the suffering of the African American community. In order for King’s argument to make sense, you have to understand why the situation is unjust. So he gives a vivid picture of what Black Americans have to go through in the segregated South. Even though he uses a lot of what we might call "painful pathos," there are also the signature rhetorical flourishes Dr. King was famous for, reminding us of the beautiful possibilities for America's future. For
Dr. Ernest Williamson III
English Composition II
1 February 2017
Letter from Birmingham Jail Analysis Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere: many minorities would feel this to be true. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned for being a participant in a nonviolent protest against segregation. In his letter, Dr. King defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to violence. In this rhetorical analysis the writer will analyze the rhetoric devices used by Dr. King. In his letter, Dr. King defines both “just” laws and “unjust” laws. According to Dr. King, a “just” law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An “unjust” law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. By …show more content…
King’s letter makes a seriously devastating logical argument. It deals with the realities of the circumstance in a way his critics neglect to do. One of Dr. King’s fundamental contentions in his letter is that just laws ought to be followed and unjust laws should be openly and purposely disobeyed. In any case, with a specific end goal to win individuals over to this simple idea, he needs to accomplish more than connect with his readers’ feelings. So he writes practically like an attorney for an extent, characterizing just and unjust laws from a couple diverse angles. For instance, utilizing just laws versus unjust laws. The major moments of pathos in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" come in the parts about the suffering of the African American community. In order for King’s argument to make sense, you have to understand why the situation is unjust. So he gives a vivid picture of what Black Americans have to go through in the segregated South. Even though he uses a lot of what we might call "painful pathos," there are also the signature rhetorical flourishes Dr. King was famous for, reminding us of the beautiful possibilities for America's future. For